A flurry of strikes from every direction.

My dual blades whipped the strikes out of harm's reach, but not all of them.

Crimson blood ran down my gear as fear began to settle in, finding home in my heart.

Fear is a powerful tool, but in the hands of a fool - it's a dangerous foe.

A liability.

When harnessing the power of fear, one becomes awakened and adept. Things that were once only for the periphery and subconscious, now play out on the surface of reality. Minute details are now brought into focus as under the scrutiny of a magnifying glass, one powerful and true. The type seekers and seers tamper with: the type not fit for fools.

Without effort the arachnid prince flowed throughout the battlefield of two. Like a waltz between one who knows the steps and the other who knows only ales and taverns, nothing of the refinement of the elegant dances of high nobility.

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Where the prince knew pride from birth, I knew insecurity from past failings.

As the strikes began to surmount my defense, my fear let in another emotion to share the space of my heart: that being an appreciation for the beauty of his carnage.

I was a strong adventurer.

Even myself, thinking always the worst, can admit that.

But this was beyond me.

His movements dazzled and confused me in a way that no other elite or boss ever had.

Was it the fact that he shared the same form as I?

Was it the human element that I found so infectious?

A sharp pain.

One that sheared flesh effortlessly and brought a fierce fire to my chest brought things back into perspective

The air calmed.

The battle died out.

And around me I looked beyond the purple barrier and was met with a horror beyond my years.

My men were watching.

Their eyes filled with rage and tears.

Some even fruitlessly smashed at the barrier with their balled fists and weapons alike.

They were watching my death.

No not my death...

My execution.

Their leader was to die before their very eyes.

I was to meet my end.

Then, in my periphery, I saw her.

She was not smashing away at a barrier produced by our realms mysterious power, she was simply watching with her ice cold eyes.

Her lips were moving but the barrier allowed no sound within its hold.

Reading her lips.

They said:

Don't you dare die before you.